RFK Jr ‘s confirmation hearing got off to a rocky start

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Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F Kennedy Jr is the subject of a confirmation hearing this week that judging by day one got off to a very rocky start. Senators from the get-go pounced on Jr’s past statements about everything from abortion to his outlandish view on vaccines.

The Lowdown

RFK Jr’s hope to become the next Secretary of Health and Human Services got off to a rocky start during the beginning of his confirmation hearings today. According to the New York Times, Jr claimed during the hearing that not only is he ‘not’ anti-vaccine he is also not ‘anti industry.’ Despite the claim, there is credible and extensive evidence to the contrary.

Elsewhere during the hearing, his former running mate Nicole Shanahan (Sergey Brin ‘s ex-wife for those that aren’t familiar with the name) announced in a video on X that she would ‘fund’ all primaries against any Senator who voted against confirming him. Shanahan is the latest example of billionaires (yes billionaires thanks to her divorce from Brin) threatening to use their obscene wealth to tilt politics in their favour.

What happened?

During the hearing, RFK Jr made several eyebrow-raising claims, especially considering many of his past statements and claims are openly available for Senators and the public to read on and offline. The most vocal of the day was Senator Ron Wyden the ranking Democrat before the hearing — who all but in fewer words told RFK Jr that he has repeatedly in the past used his views (many of which have been discredited or outright debunked) to personally enrich himself despite the way he makes it look to the public.

“The receipts show that Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, and charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines,” Wyden said. Senators also questioned him over his past statements regarding Lyme Disease where he at the time claimed that the difficult disease is a materially engineered bioweapon.

In terms of abortion, read this next part carefully. When he was asked about abortion, per The Times, Jr told Senators that he would happily enforce any policy that Trump puts in place regarding abortion (including access or the restriction of access to mifepristone, the pill used for abortion.)